The ability to track high value assets would greatly increase the efficiency of companies involved in using and transporting high value assets. In addition, the ability to track high value assets would significantly reduce the loss of high value assets. The global positioning system and other satellite positioning systems have provided the promise of tracking high value assets. Unfortunately, a number of practical problems have limited the ability to track high value assets. For instance, one type of high value asset requiring tracking is heavy construction equipment. One problem in tracking heavy construction equipment is the drain any tracking system places on the equipment's battery. Commonly, these types of equipment require the battery to be at least 80% charged in order to start the equipment. Tracking system can seriously reduce the amount of battery power when the equipment is not running for an extended period of time. Another problem has been communicating the position information to a user. Construction equipment is often used in areas not served by cellular systems or by any other wireless system having modest power requirements.
Another high value asset requiring tracking is trains. The present tracking system for trains uses fixed locations to read a bar code on the train as the train passes the fixed location. Unfortunately, a train can stop for extended periods between these fixed locations. This leaves the system with little information about the train and leaves open the possibility that a fixed location failed to read the train as it passed.
Thus there exists a need for a system that can track high value assets, without draining the equipment's battery and can transmit the position information reliably anywhere.